WITH A Foundation gone and the Contemporary Urban Centre too, it's not been great news for the Baltic Triangle in the last year.
But now, on the grounds of the former, we have Camp and Furnace, which is now open for business after a marvellous party last weekend.
The launch of the venue, say the people behind it, marks a confident return to the rural: an "antidote to the super-slick,” and “a celebration of simple things".
Part-bar, part-cafe, part-event space, the Greenland Street destination is the brainchild of a group of friends who run businesses in the Baltic Triangle (Architects FVMA, design agency Smiling Wolf and Elevator Studios) who say they saw the potential in transforming the timeworn complex of vast Victorian factories and industrial spaces into an "independent, creatively led concept, which incorporates architecture, art, music, design, food and hospitality".
Expect naked wood, bare bulbs and an oversized wood-burning stove, wines and beers including Camp and Furnace’s own-brew artisan ale “Brown Bear.”
On the food front there's a Baltic themed menuL Salt beef, sauerkraut and vodka-cured gravadlax rubbing shoulders with English favourites like ham hock, pork pies and a Baltic-inspired rarebit. Don't forget, scouse came from the Scands, so don't diss it.
They even have caravans - and you can't get more Camp than that.
Here are some pictures. "Freeloader" will be in there having a critical look next week.
